Blog Post

Will winter return to our spring like valley? My garden seems to think it’s spring, the birds do, the skies definitely have been springlike, and the soft slushy skiing of the past few afternoons is highly reminiscent of, gosh, April??

The gorgeous blue skies and mild temps have been lovely but this tease of mild weather is just out of place in January. Everyone I know has spring fever (myself included I cannot tell a lie). People are on their bikes, there are some rockin goggle tans showing up on the apres scene, I saw a guy skiing in shorts yesterday.

But as this morning does attest, it is just too early. Winter will come knocking back into the valley and we need to welcome her with open arms and seriously shaking booties. Do you truly love skiing and snowman building and sledding and lots of water in the rivers come true spring and low fire danger in July? Then it’s time to get serious about your snow dances. Pull down your shades, crank up your favorite dance tunes, and move every part of your body simultaneously as an homage the the snow gods, fickle as they are. Talking Heads does the trick for me. Maybe you’re a Beyonce or Jackson 5 or Grateful Dead sort of snowdancer. It doesn’t matter, really whatever floats your Steamboat.

Not a dancer? Sacrifice something; that beloved pair of tele boots that you just don’t use anymore, your lucky hat that has too many holes to keep you warm at all, a framed photo of you and your besties on a rockin powder day of yore. Burn em. Throw them into the yard to be ravaged by the elements. Pray to Ular, the norse god of winter, abundant snowfall benefactor. Gently tap the Buddy Werner statue on the top of Mount Werner for snow lovin.

Most importantly, don’t give up hope. There is snow in the forecast for the next 10 days, here and there, nothing to write home about at this point. But there is hope in the forecast. Don’t put your Sorels and shovels away just yet.

Actually, do. Put them far far away, laundered and folded along with your warmest most waterproof layers. Put them up high in the garage, in your crawl space. Drive them to your storage unit in Craig and mail the key to your snowed in family back east.